Until Tomorrow
by GaeilgeRua
Summary: It's Astoria's hen night, and Tracey orders a snakebite.


Written for Draco's Den A Slytherin Walks into a Pub Fic-A-Thon. My prompt was 'Tracey Davis walks into a pub and meets Zacharias Smith'.

A huge thanks to starrnobella for her quick read through. Any errors after she read it over are my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone recognizable from the HP world. I am not making any money off of this.

* * *

"Another round of ales, please," Tracey said once she had the bartender's attention. Before he turned away, she added, "Actually, can you make one of those a snakebite instead?"

"Of course, six ales and a snakebite. Coming right up, miss," the bartender replied before turning to make their drinks.

"A snakebite?" A voice said from her right. "A witch after my own heart, Miss Davis."

Turning, Tracey took in the wizard sitting two stools down from her. It took her a few moments, but she finally placed the blond hair and dark blue eyes.

"Smith, it's been a while," she replied. Sliding into the stool next to him, she raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know the snakebite is for me?"

His eyes twinkled in the dim light of the pub. "Lucky guess."

"Uh-huh, sure. Lucky guess, my arse." Tracey laughed. "Do you regularly drink snakebites yourself?"

Leaning close, he whispered, "Only if the snake is doing the biting."

Biting the inside of her bottom lip, Tracey could feel her cheeks heat up. She was not used to this kind of attention from men, wizarding or Muggle, especially when she was in the presence of her best girlfriends.

"Here are your drinks, miss," the bartender said, breaking the tension that had been building between the two of them. He placed the tray of drinks in front of her. "I'll add them to your ladies' tab."

"Thank you," Tracey replied. She turned back to the wizard sitting next to her. "It's Astoria's hen night, so I have to get back to my friends, but it was good seeing you again, Smith."

"It's Zach," he said with a grin.

"It was good seeing you again, Zach." Tracey returned his smile. "And it's Tracey."

"You too, Tracey." He watched as she slid off her stool and reached for the tray of drinks. "I know you can handle it, but I would be remiss if I didn't offer. Would you like me to take that over to your table for you?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I've got this," she replied. Lifting the tray into her arms, Tracey sent another smile his way. "I'll see you later, Zach."

He saluted her with his drink. "Goodbye, Tracey." Taking a sip from his glass, he watched as she made her way over to a table on the far side, filled six other former Slytherins.

* * *

"Who is _that_?" Hestia asked with a smirk as soon as Tracey was within earshot.

"He's quite the looker," her twin, Flora added.

Setting the tray on their table, she passed around everyone's drinks before she finally said, "Would you believe me if I told you Zacharias Smith?"

She slid into the empty seat next to Astoria.

"No!" Half the women exclaimed in hushed whispers as the other half just stared at Tracey in surprise. Or was it disbelief? It was always so hard to tell with her fellow Slytherins, especially Pansy.

Shaking her head, Tracey laughed. "It really is Zacharias Smith. I couldn't believe it at first either, but…" She looked over to where he was sitting at the bar, still nursing his drink. Tracey turned back to her friends. "It's really him."

"Life has definitely treated him well," Pansy commented.

The other witches agreed.

Looking at her dark-haired friend as she stared at the wizard across the pub, a small frown tugged on the corner of Tracey's lips. She didn't know how she felt about Pansy's comment.

"Didn't he do some kind of training abroad somewhere?" Millicent asked.

"You know, I think you're right, Millie," Daphne said before Tracey's attention was pulled from the other witches' conversation.

Glancing to her left, she found the culprit of the judge to her shoulder, the bride to be. She gave her friend a smile. "Everything okay, Tor?"

Astoria laughed. "Everything is perfect for me, Trace." She nodded her head in the direction of the bar. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"Oh, Tor, no! Tonight is about you," Tracey countered.

"Yes, but you are one of my best friends, Trace, and while you may have only been talking to him for a few moments, I haven't been you smile like that in a long time. Not since you and Cassius broke things off." Astoria grabbed Tracey's free hand. "Nothing may come of it, but go talk to him."

"But," Tracey replied only to be cut off by a shake of Astoria's head.

"No buts, Trace. I relieve you of your duties tonight," Astoria told her. "Although I want to see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now go." Astoria nudged Tracey again before she added with a wink, "and who knows, maybe you'll actually be able to bring your plus one this time."

Snorting, Tracey picked up her drink. "Let's not rush things, Tor, but I'm going." She pressed a kiss to her friend's cheek. "Thank you."

"Any time, my dear."

Making her way back over to the bar, Tracey heard Astoria explain to the others that they would see her tomorrow morning. Before she was too close, Tracey stopped and took a deep breath, followed by a large gulp from her glass.

She put one foot in front of the other again.

"So," Tracey said by way of greeting as she slid back onto the barstool she had recently vacated. "I have been relieved of my bridesmaid duty for the night, Zach. Can I join you?"

Zacharias turned, a smile spreading across his face. "I would be honoured, Tracey."

Looking over her shoulder, he found the table of witches staring straight at the two of them. He nodded his head at Astoria.

'Tomorrow?' She mouthed with a raised eyebrow.

His quiet chuckle was drowned out by the din of the pub. 'Maybe,' he mouthed back.

Looking back at Tracey, he knew he had to find a way for her to give him a chance. And there was only one place to start.

"Tell me about yourself, Tracey."

"Well, as you know, I'm a snake and," throwing caution to the wind, she glanced at him before adding, "I've been known to bite."

Zacharias' grin was decidedly wicked as he realised she'd given him a chance just by coming back over. And he was not going to let it pass him by.


End file.
